Varazdin, Croatia – Meritum Soft today is pleased to introduce Reiner Knizia’s Yoku-Gami 1.1 for iOS, their new puzzle game where players select combinations of adjacent numbers in a 6 x 6 grid. The goal is to highlight two or more numbers such that the highest number in the group equals the sum total of all the other numbers. For example, in the group (1, 3, 5, 1) the sum of 1+3+1=5. Highlighting all four numbers, which are adjacent to each other horizontally or vertically, completes a successful turn and clears the numbers from the grid. Points are scored depending on the greatest number in the group, and how many numbers are included in the group. Created by legendary game designer Dr. Reiner Knizia, author of more than 500 games including Lord of the Rings, Ingenious, and Monumental, Yoku-Gami offers three different playing modes and countless hours of entertaining and challenging gameplay.

Reiner Knizia holds a PhD in mathematics, and as a full-time game designer creates only the concept and prototype of a game, leaving the details of the graphical user interface, publication, and marketing to others. Meritum Soft, the publisher, has created an animated cartoon character Yoki, to host gameplay, provide hints, and cheer players on. The graphical style of Yoki’s Game, or Yoku-Gami, is a cross between Japanese anime and children’s book illustrations drawn in pastels. Each 6 x 6 grid contains oversized, hand-drawn, kindergarten numbers (ranging from 1 to 20) in soft colors with shaded backgrounds. Yoki giggles and jumps for joy, traditional Japanese bamboo flutes provide a musical accompaniment, and players of all ages are invited to play a simple, though challenging game, whose roots can be found in arithmetic combinatorics.

The game includes three modes of play: Arcade, Level, and Endless. In Arcade mode players have as their goal to clear an entire row or column of numbers. Once a row or column is cleared, all the remaining numbers shift down to allow more numbers to enter from above. The game ends when there are no turns left, and this mode accommodates competitive play between two or more opponents. In Level mode the game is played over a number of independent grids (levels). Players start with 24 lives, and at the end of each level, when there are no turns remaining, players lose one life for each number left on the grid. Play continues until all a player’s lives are expended. Finally, in Endless mode the goal is to clear individual groups of numbers. After each successful turn, the group disappears from the board and the remaining numbers shift down to allow more numbers to enter from above. The game ends when there are no turns left.

Feature Highlights: * A math puzzle game for players of any age * Easy to learn but difficult to master * Three modes of play * Increasingly difficult levels of play in each mode * Retina display support * Local and global high scores * Tutorials for every mode * Hints always available from Yoki, the baby elephant * On/off music, sound, tutorials, controls

Dr. Reiner Knizia was born in Germany and developed his first game at age eight. The highly acclaimed designer has been living in England since 1993. At the Origins Game Fair in 2002 he was inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame, and several of his games appear in the international GAMES 100 list, as well as the BoardGameGeek top 100. Various gaming conventions have hosted “Kniziathons,” which are tournaments dedicated to celebrating his games. He has created games in a wide variety of genres including card games, children’s games, strategy games, and role-playing games. Other iOS games he has authored are Monumental, Roto, and Robot Master.

“The best games are often the simplest games; and that is the genius of Reiner Knizia’s Yoku-Gami,” stated company Director Krunoslav Till. “It combines the invigoration of building intellectual power, speed, and agility with the exhilaration of achieving higher and higher scores.”

Based in Varazdin, Croatia, the Meritum Soft d.o.o. team is a privately funded company founded by Krunoslav Till. Committed to providing the highest quality information technology, Meritum Soft was founded in 2009 for the purpose of providing the best and most modern ITC solutions for every client’s unique situation, with a major emphasis on total customer satisfaction. Copyright (C) 2009-2011 Krunoslav Till. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.